SEGRA 2018 is heading to Mackay, Queensland from 22 - 25 October!

24–27 October 2017Upper Spencer Gulf, South Australia

On behalf of Spencer Gulf Cities, we are looking forward to the 2017 national ‘Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia’ (SEGRA) conference, which will be hosted in the Upper Spencer Gulf from 24-27th October 2017.

We will be showcasing all three of our cities and wider regions as part of the conference, within the key theme of ‘Disruption – a catalyst for change’.

This will be the first time in the 20-year history of the conference that it will be held in South Australia and after a few rough years, the regional cities of Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Whyalla now have much to celebrate and to share with you-

After 18 months in administration, the recent sale of the Whyalla steelworks is expected to include significant investment into a ‘GreenSteel’ strategy encompassing mining, metal recycling, metal production, engineering and distribution.

Filling the void left by last year’s closure of South Australia’s last coal fired power station, located at Port Augusta, will be a $650 million, 150 megawatt ‘concentrated solar thermal’ power plant – the biggest of its kind in the world.

Following 127 years of lead processing, the current $563 million expansion of the Port Pirie smelter will see its transformation into an advanced multi-metals recovery facility and home to the largest ‘e-waste’ recycling facility in Australia.

After a successful trial, world-leading technology is being used on a commercial scale by Sundrop Farms to supply solar electricity, heat and desalinated seawater to grow tomatoes in an arid-land horticulture operation near Port Augusta.

Advanced biocrude-oil production company, Muradel, is expanding their Whyalla site, utilising sustainable and renewable organic based feedstocks as a direct replacement for non-sustainable oils such as mineral crude oils and palm plantation oils.

Extending between Port Augusta and Whyalla, the Cultana Defence Training Area is expanding from 50,000 to just over 200,000 hectares to become one of the Australian Defence Force’s largest training areas capable of supporting major joint exercises.

Construction of the National Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) facility in Port Augusta was completed in 2016 and now produces up to 50 million sterile male Queensland fruit flies each week, for release as a bio-control into affected horticulture growing regions.

In addition to the expansion of BHP’s Olympic Dam copper, gold, uranium and silver mining operation, Oz Minerals are commencing construction of a $916 million copper and gold mine just north of the Upper Spencer Gulf, with plans for a concentrate treatment plant also underway.

We are very excited to be hosting SEGRA this year and look forward to seeing you in October.